Cal comes up short against San Diego State

There were times, quite often, Saturday night when the memories of Jared Goff seemed rather distant for the Cal football program. He’s a Rams third-stringer now, not even active for Monday night’s season opener against the 49ers, and Davis Webb looks to have everything it takes to perform in the NFL.

Webb, Goff’s replacement behind center, had his moments of brilliance, no doubt, but equally relevant issues surfaced during the Bears’ 45-40 loss at San Diego State. The defense, expected to be sieve-like against the better teams, lived down to its reputation. And grievous errors were committed, the type that drive a coach to exasperation.

This was a game Cal badly needed, with a revitalized Texas team next on the schedule, and it had to be discouraging to head coach Sonny Dykes, because it was entirely winnable.

Just when Webb and Chad Hansen seemed to have solidified a golden connection for the second straight game (Hansen caught 14 passes for 190 yards), they got their signals crossed on a crucial third-down play with about seven minutes left, an awkward incompletion that killed a drive with San Diego State leading 38-34.

That led to the inevitable: The Aztecs handing off to fabulous running back Donnel Pumphrey, without a thing Cal could do about it.

As San Diego State ground out a spirit-crushing drive, Pumphrey passed the great Marshall Faulk to set the school’s career rushing record. Moments later, Pumphrey was storming into the end zone for a touchdown, establishing a career-high 281 rushing yards and shining like a beacon on a Saturday that witnessed some mind-blowing offensive performances across the country.

To their credit, the Bears weren’t done. Webb engineered a drive culminating in a short touchdown pass to Ray Hudson. The two-point conversion failed, but, amazingly, Cal recovered its onside kick on a leaping, aggressive grab by Derron Brown.

That’s when the Webb-Hansen connection went terribly wrong again, Hansen badly overthrowing his favorite target over the middle on what could have been a touchdown. It came down to a 3rd-and-3 from the San Diego State 22-yard line. Webb aimed a sideline toss to Vic Wharton, but Demontae Kazee made a clutch, juggling interception to give the Aztecs their 12th straight win, dating back to last season.

However the rest of the season unfolds, one thing isn’t likely to change: Webb making precise connections to Hansen, Bug Rivera, Demetris Robertson and the rest of Cal’s receiving corps. It’s hard to imagine the Bears being completely stifled by anyone. This was the promise of Dykes’ regime, and it has delivered magnificently through Goff and Webb.

Webb had some costly misfires, but he dazzled the crowd with picturesque passes over the top of defensive backs hitting receivers in stride. Such was the case on his back-to-back gems to Patrick Worstell and Rivera, leading to a 33-yard touchdown and a 7-7 tie, and on his gorgeous 49-yard connection to Hansen for 14-14 late in the first quarter — at the end of which, incidentally, Webb had thrown for 173 of his 522 total yards.

The Bears looked downright unstoppable when Hudson made a terrific touchdown catch, in heavy traffic, to force a 21-21 tie in the second quarter. A perfect strike to Robertson crafted a 59-yard touchdown in the third, cutting the lead to 38-28. Webb was dealing, given plenty of time by a staunch offensive line, and the Aztecs’ secondary looked clearly overmatched.

That’s not how it played out in the end. San Diego State made some adjustments to stop the deep ball, and Cal’s running game was nowhere near effective enough to offset the passing game. Dykes had hoped to grind it out on the ground, at least to some extent, but the Aztecs’ advantage in that department proved to be embarrassing (334 rushing yards to Cal’s 82).

Dykes spent much of the first half in a snit, and with very good reason. On Cal’s first series, Webb overthrew Rivera down the left sideline on what appeared to be a certain touchdown. On the next series, a holding call on sophomore tackle Patrick Mekari nullified a 54-yard connection from Webb to Jordan Veasy.

Later in the first quarter, Veasy took a short pass and fumbled the ball away, setting up a San Diego State touchdown on the very next play. Then the Aztecs’ Rashaad Penny scored on a kickoff return from 2 yards deep in the end zone — and that’s his specialty, having scored in that manner three times before. But the Bears’ tackling was downright shoddy, letting Penny get free when they had him apparently contained around the 20.

This type of sloppiness just can’t happen, not if the Bears hope to have any impact during the Pac-12 season. And it’s basic stuff, easily overwhelmed by a smooth-functioning team. Saturday’s game against the 11th-ranked Longhorns, fresh off a 41-7 win over UTEP, looms as especially important.